Blast Furnace's - Neath Abbey Ironworks - Dyffryn Clydach, Wales.
N 51° 39.883 W 003° 49.567
30U E 442864 N 5724071
The workshops & two blast furnace's at Neath Abbey Ironworks, are preserved listed Grade II buildings. Opened in 1793 & closed in 1886. Located in Dyffryn Clydach, Neath, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMP3M3
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/24/2015
Views: 5
Neath Abbey Ironworks, Dyffryn Clydach, reputed to be one of the greatest engineering concerns in South Wales.
Significant preservation works were completed in the 1990's with buttresses built to support the workshop walls, & steel supports under furnace number 1, Number 2 blast furnace is the best preserved, & taller of the two furnaces.
Alas now very overgrown, with trees growing out of the masonry. Located in Dyffryn Clydach, Neath, South Wales.
"The physical complex that housed all this activity was modest in size. An aerial view taken in 1997 shows the ruins of the two masonry blast furnaces and the remaining walls of the shops to the left.
the Ironworks was the M. I. T. of its day, reputed to be one of the greatest engineering concerns in Great Britain" Text Source: (
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"Neath Abbey Ironworks was established in the eighteenth century. There are several notable surviving structures including two superb blast furnaces (NPRN 85098) dating from 1793 built against a rock face for ease of charging, Ty Mawr, the ironmaster's house of 1801 and the engine manufactory (NPRN 85097). Higher up the Clydach valley is a former water-powered forge (NPRN 40458) with an iron roof cast at the works in 1825. The building was later used as a woollen mill (NPRN 96478) and machinery was removed to the former Swansea Maritime and Industrial Museum. Further upstream, the river was dammed to ensure a reserve of water and a strong steady flow to the ironworks. The present large masonry dam (NPRN 33643), which carries a public road, dates from about 1840. The Ironworks finally closed in 1885.
RCAHMW, 11 March 2009." Text source: (
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"One of two very large late C18 blast furnaces built for the Neath Abbey Ironworks. They were built in 1793, designed by Peter Price who had experience of furnaces in Great Britain and America. The Neath Abbey Ironworks were developed by two Quaker families, the Foxes of Falmouth from 1792 and Joseph Tregelles Price from 1817. Under Price the works became famous for high-quality engineering products including locomotives, stationary engines and steamships. The works closed in 1886." Text Source:
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"Blast furnace, very tall rubble Pennant sandstone, square-plan, tapering, built against a rock face for ease of charging. Furnace is some 19.8m high with base approximately 11.6m square. Base is overgrown but has large barrel vault on E side with semicircular arch with double ring of dressed stone voussoirs. Interior is supported by massive cast iron beams and has the remains of a slag notch. At the top of the furnace is the remains of a loading arch." Text Source: (
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